THANKS FOR YOUR CONCERN

As many of you know by now, my sweet mother had a massive heart attack a week ago. She is 81 and lives down in San Diego county with my dad. She is back home and recovering slowly. It has been devastating seeing my mom hit by this.

I am very pleased to let you know that she is getting a big stronger each day, and, knowing her, she'll be back to her normal spunky self when she gets through this difficult recovery stage. She looks pretty good below, eh, for just one week away from the attack.

I was able to spend the long weekend with my mom and dad, and they were surprised how many of you had sent me emails of concern, and how many of you expressed care and concern at classes and the club.

She was really touched.

I am deeply touched by your compassion.

Here's a pic of the way I'll always thing of her!

ERIK ROBISON WORKSHOP

We're sooooo lucky! Erik Robison (of Erik & Sylvia - one of the greatest Lindy Hop teams ever) will be doing his first Lindy Hop workshop in two years -- for us!

RUSTY'S "YEHAW" BIRTHDAY AT THE RHYTHM CLUB NEXT WEEKWEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2009
DRESS UP -- VINTAGE WESTERN

For those of you who have been around for awhile, you know that if it's my birthday, it must be Western! Don't ask me why, but this tradition started at the Rhythm Club years ago and it's carried on with great fun and frolic ever since. Dress up in your finest vintage Western style.

THIS FROM OUR PAL DARRELL HOPE:

I'm great believer that anytime you get an opportunity to dress up like a cowboy or cowgirl, you really ought to go for it. But then again I was raised on Roy Rogers and even had a pony named Trigger (verdad!) so that could be expected of me. But when you get to mix together two great things like dressing up like a cowpoke and also getting to dance, well hush my mouth and call me Reese's because that's better than peanut butter and chocolate! And when you get to top it all off by celebrating the natal day of one of the coolest people on the western side of the world, then ya'll better be there. It's RUSTY FRANK'S BOY HOWDY B-DAY PARTY where she requests you get in the spirit and dress Vintage Western on Wednesday, February 25th. So boot up m'buckos and we'll see you down at the dancehall. You can bring your lariat, and/or your Harriet to at RUSTY'S RHYTHM CLUB in the Elks Lodge, 8025 W. Manchester, Playa Del Rey, park and enter in the back.) But please, there will be no bulldogging the hostess.

PLUS!!!!

JILL AND JACK CONTEST

We can't resist. With our Western theme next week at Rusty's Rhythm Club, we just had to have a "shoot out" between the cowgirls and the cowboys. So we're having our now annual "Jill & Jack" Contest!

What's a Jill & Jack you ask? It's a contest where the girls lead and the boys follow.

PLUS PLUS...

SPECIAL GUEST -- ERIK ROBISON

Erik Robison, who will be doing our workshop on Saturday, February 28th, will be making a special guest appearance.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this great dancer, and one heck of a nice guy, you'll get a chance to meet him at my birthday party. I'm sure we'll be able to coax him to do a little display with me.

See you on the dance floor!

ERIK & SYLVIA

With our Erik Robison Workshop coming along just around the corner, I thought you would enjoy seeing him dance with his former dance partner, Sylvia Skylar. You'll see why they changed the history of Lindy Hop forever!

THIS WEEK'S CONTEST!!*

The first person to send us an email with the answer to the following wins a free pass to the Rhythm Club for tomorrow nite:*

QUIZ:

What is Duke Ellington's real name?

Send your answer to us at info@rustyfrank.com. Only the weekly winner will receive a response to their Contest Answer.

NOTE: Google is your friend! All the answers are only a Google search away. Have fun and learn about our swing history at the same time.

LAST CONTEST

QUIZ:

How did Collegiate Shag get it's name?

ANSWER:

Was named "Collegiate" Shag most likely as a marketing ploy as many "Collegiate" dances were being created at the time for marketed towards the young ("college age") dancers.

WINNER:

Ji Han

*Contestants may play as many times as they wish, but may only win the prize once a year. Contestants must use their Rhythm Club pass for the week they won the contest.

FEBRUARY DANCE CLASSES OH, BOY! COLLEGIATE SHAG AT LAST!

WHAT IS COLLEGIATE SHAG?

Chances are that by now, even if you don't already dance Shag, you've at least seen it on the dance floor already. Collegiate Shag is known as a fast dance of fun, fancy footwork. It's a great dance to have in your repertoire for spicing up fast songs with extra-crazy moves. Even the most basic Shag steps are a lot of fun to do and watch, and many people find it easier to dance Shag to fast music than Lindy Hop.

JOIN THE SWING SHIFT RHYTHM CLUB NOW!

The Swing Shift Rhythm Club (SSRC) goals: Fun & Philanthropy

this one in from our local dance gal, Ava Hayworth, a wonderful site for everything vintage swing music. My personal favorite page on the site is "Who sang that?":

Who Sang That?

Do you remember an old tune but can't think of who performed it? Try this search. It will bring up a results page from Amazon.com which lists all available versions of the song by artist and album title.

* Wondering
what the heck a "gate"is? This was a phrase popularized by 1940's comedian,
Jerry Colonna, who would holler it out every time he was introduced on the
Bob Hope radio program. It was a friendly salutation to a swing cat (dancer
or swing music enthusiast). Basically, we swing like a gate!

JOIN THE FUN!
BUT, WHAT THE HECK IS IT?

Many of you still don't know about our Swing Shift Rhythm Club. It's one of our best kept secrets. Now is the time to get the SSRC "above the radar."

THE SWING SHIFT RHYTHM CLUB (SSRC), founded in 2000 by Rusty Frank's swing dance students, The SSRC has two missions:

1. Having fun! (Fun)
2. Doing good deeds! (Philanthropy)

1. Having fun: Events where swing dancers can socialize and get to know each other outside of class (vintage clothes shopping, going to a dance-related movie, dancing in the park, eating at retro restaurants before a dance, etc.).

2. Doing good deeds: Events where we bring swing dancing to hospitals, senior homes, and community events for the purpose of good deeds, entertainment, and education in the Los Angeles area.

The SSRC is a volunteer club open to the public and the events are organized by its members. There are no dues. Members can attend as many or as few events as they wish.

"How do I join?"...
Right now, fill in your email address
and click the Yahoo log (that's it!):

Subscribe to SwingShiftRhythmClub

Then you will receive updates of activities (or you can organize one yourself!). Check the yahoogroup "Swing Shift Rhythm Club" calendar here for postings of upcoming events.